Lychee Boba Tea

Boba tea is so sweet and good, just like some of my favorite people.

There are tons of recipes for boba tea floating around, but this one is based on a recipe from Panko Bunny—a great name for a blog. I suspect you could replace the lychee with rambutan or longan with equally good results.

For best results, you’d want to:

• Make the green tea portion of the recipe a few hours before making the boba tea so it has a few hours to cool.
• Refrigerate the can of lychees overnight before starting the recipe.
• Refrigerate two large glasses a couple of hours before beginning to make the tea.
• Make sure to get giant straws so you can suck up those giant tapioca pearls!

Serves two.

What you’ll need

• 2 cups (500 ml) very hot water
• 3 green tea bags
• 24 lychees in syrup from a 20 oz (565g) can—reserve the syrup
• 2 cups (500 ml) milk
• 0.75 cups lychee syrup from the can, divided
• 0.5 cups tapioca pearls, dry
• 2T brown or palm sugar

What to do

Steep the 3 green tea bags in the hot water for 5 minutes. Add a few ice cubes and chill it in the refrigerator.

In a small saucepan, whisk together the brown sugar and 0.25 cups lychee syrup. Cook over medium heat until it starts to simmer. Set it aside to cool to room temperature after it thickens a little.

Pulse the lychees in a blender or with an immersion blender until they’re really smooth. Run them through a metal sieve to remove the pulp, if you don’t want it in the tea. I recommend doing this, as some of the skin from the pits are invariably still attached to the lychees. Straining the blended fruit will remove it. Add the milk to the lychees and mix well. Immediately refrigerate to keep it cold.

At this point, you should have your drinking glasses, tea and lychees/milk cooled in the refrigerator, and the lychee syrup at room temperature on the stove.

To prepare the tapioca pearls, boil a large saucepan of water. Add the pearls and cook according to the instructions on the package. Depending on the brand, this should take about 5 or so minutes. When they’re cooked, put them in cold water while you prepare to assemble the drinks.

To serve, divide the tapioca pearls, brown/palm sugar syrup and the 0.5 cups lychee syrup between two tall glasses. Divide the lychee milk between the glasses, then top with the green tea. Stir the tea with a boba tea straw and enjoy!